Unfortunately, recruiters are still drowning in candidates
The financial services job market is improving. The summer months proved a watershed; after two quarters of solid revenues and profits, banks are daring to recruit. By all accounts, 2010 will be big. But it won't be big enough to undo the damage that's been done since 2008.
This is because, as we've pointed out previously, banks have eliminated many, many more jobs than they've so far created.
Headcount at Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse increased in the third quarter, but JPMorgan continued to cut staff. Net, at least another 2,800 jobs have gone from investment banks in the first nine months of the year. UBS may have added 434 people this year, but it's eliminated 7,000 since the first quarter of 2008.
The upshot is an increasingly desperate cohort of former bankers who are frozen out of the market and struggling to get back in. One recruiter who works with junior candidates across front office positions had 1,000 emails from candidates after he returned from the Christmas break in 2008. Last weekend alone, he received 300.
At the same time, banks are being increasingly choosy about who they take on.
There are still a lot of people on the market, but these are not necessarily the ones in demand. Everyone's chasing top rated candidates, and generally speaking these are the ones that weren't let go," says Julia Tustian at recruitment firm Shepherd Little. "If banks are only hiring one or two people for a team, they are being very selective ."
This is confirmed by the recruiter with the 300 emails: "The job to candidate ratio has improved, but client expectations are very high," he says.
Patience is virtuous
Nevertheless, some people are still getting jobs. Michael Moran, managing director of career coaching and outplacement company Fairplace, says the redundant bankers he assists typically move into new and comparable positions within 12-13 weeks. Morgan McKinley's recent 'employment monitor,' suggests (mostly back and middle office) candidates are finding roles within seven weeks.
If you've been frozen out of the market for longer than this, there's no magic bullet. The key to getting back in is generally seen as networking, thereby sidestepping both recruiters and HR. One career coach says the long term investment banking unemployed are being treated abominably by both: "It's appalling and heartbreaking. High performing, long serving people are being treated with profound insensitivity by young HR people who are putting them into pigeon holes."
